Browse the statute hierarchy

Search finds the section that answers a question, but it cannot enumerate a code. When you need the structure, titles then chapters then sections, in the order a human reads them, use GET /statutes/divisions. Each call returns the immediate children of wherever you are, so you can render a tree, build a table of contents, or crawl a whole title without paging through search. Endpoint used: GET /statutes/divisions (1 credit per call).

Browse supports USC, CFR, STATE, and REGULATION, the corpora with a clean drill-down tree. Constitutions, court rules, executive actions, the Federal Register, and agency guidance are flatter or heterogeneous; reach those with /statutes/search.

How drilling works

Pass the deepest level you already know, and the response returns the level directly below it.

You pass	You get back (`level`)
`corpusType=USC`	the USC `titles`
`corpusType=USC&titleNumber=42`	the `chapters` in Title 42
`corpusType=USC&titleNumber=42&chapter=21`	the `sections` in Chapter 21 (leaf)
`corpusType=CFR&titleNumber=17`	the `parts` in Title 17
`corpusType=CFR&titleNumber=17&part=240`	the `sections` in Part 240 (leaf)
`corpusType=STATE&state=tx`	the state’s `codes`
`corpusType=STATE&state=tx&code=tx_pe`	the `chapters` in the Texas Penal Code

Interior nodes carry a sectionCount and isLeaf: false; drill into one by passing its identifier back as the matching filter (chapter, part, or code). Leaf nodes are sections with isLeaf: true and an actId you pass straight to /statutes/section/{actId}. Every list comes back in statutory (natural) order: 9 before 10, 240.9 before 240.10.

One level

curl -G https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer vq_key_..." \
  --data-urlencode "corpusType=USC" \
  --data-urlencode "titleNumber=42"

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."},
    params={"corpusType": "USC", "titleNumber": 42},
)
data = resp.json()
print(data["level"], "under", data["parentLabel"])
for node in data["divisions"]:
    print(f'  {node["identifier"]}  {node["name"] or ""}  ({node.get("sectionCount")} sections)')

const url = new URL("https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions");
url.searchParams.set("corpusType", "USC");
url.searchParams.set("titleNumber", "42");
const data = await (
  await fetch(url, { headers: { Authorization: "Bearer vq_key_..." } })
).json();
for (const node of data.divisions) {
  console.log(node.identifier, node.name ?? "", `(${node.sectionCount} sections)`);
}

A trimmed response:

{
  "corpusType": "USC",
  "level": "chapters",
  "parentLabel": "Title 42",
  "divisions": [
    { "identifier": "21", "name": "Civil Rights", "kind": "chapter", "isLeaf": false, "sectionCount": 62 },
    { "identifier": "21A", "name": "Privacy Protection", "kind": "chapter", "isLeaf": false, "sectionCount": 9 }
  ],
  "count": 2
}

Walk a whole title

Drill from a title to its chapters, then each chapter to its sections. Leaf nodes carry the actId you use to fetch metadata or full text.

Python

import requests

BASE = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."}


def divisions(**params) -> dict:
    resp = requests.get(f"{BASE}/statutes/divisions", headers=HEADERS, params=params)
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.json()


def walk_title(corpus_type: str, title_number: int) -> None:
    chapters = divisions(corpusType=corpus_type, titleNumber=title_number)
    for ch in chapters["divisions"]:
        print(f'Chapter {ch["identifier"]}: {ch["name"] or ""}')
        sections = divisions(
            corpusType=corpus_type, titleNumber=title_number, chapter=ch["identifier"]
        )
        for sec in sections["divisions"]:
            # sec["actId"] -> GET /statutes/section/{actId} or .../body
            print(f'  § {sec["identifier"]}  {sec["name"] or ""}  [{sec["actId"]}]')


walk_title("USC", 42)

A leaf listing is bounded to keep one call fast, so an unusually large chapter can be truncated. Chapters are small in practice; if you are enumerating a very large flat state code, scope with /statutes/search using the code filter instead of listing every section at once.

Search within a container

Browse and search meet at the parent object. Every search result carries a parent: the ready-made query that lists its siblings. Its keys (titleNumber, chapter, part, code) are also accepted by POST /statutes/search, so you can take any hit and run a keyword search confined to its chapter or part, without building the scope yourself.

Python

import requests

BASE = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."}


def search(body: dict) -> dict:
    resp = requests.post(f"{BASE}/statutes/search", headers=HEADERS, json=body)
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.json()


# 1. Find one on-point section.
hit = search({"query": "insider trading", "corpusType": "CFR", "limit": 1})["results"][0]

# 2. Reuse its parent to search only within that part (17 C.F.R. Part 240).
neighbors = search({"query": "manipulative devices", "limit": 10, **hit["parent"]})
for r in neighbors["results"]:
    print(r["actId"], r["citation"])

chapter and part accept a single value or a list, and must be paired with titleNumber (USC/CFR) or code (state), which parent always includes. A chapter number alone repeats across every title, so an unpaired chapter/part is rejected with 422.

Section Identifiers

The actId you get from a leaf node, and how to fetch its metadata and text.

Corpus Types

The corpora you can browse and how to scope with corpusType and state.

Jurisdictions & State Codes

Discover the code values that seed a state browse via /statutes/codes.

Resolve a citation

Go straight to a section from a Bluebook citation instead of walking to it.

Data Coverage

Get Started

Core Concepts

Working with the API

Grounding AI

Recipes

Use Cases

Resources

Browse the statute hierarchy

How drilling works

One level

Walk a whole title

Search within a container

Section Identifiers

Corpus Types

Jurisdictions & State Codes

Resolve a citation

​How drilling works

​One level

​Walk a whole title

​Search within a container

​Related

Section Identifiers

Corpus Types

Jurisdictions & State Codes

Resolve a citation

How drilling works

One level

Walk a whole title

Search within a container

Related